L.A. County rescue teams deployed to Venezuela leaned on support team at home. "We're all working together"

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Set us as preferred After the twin quakes in Venezuela last month, 73 firefighters from Los Angeles County’s Urban Search and Rescue Team were quickly deployed to the devastation to help dig out and treat survivors from one of that country’s worst disasters.The work was dangerous, heart-wrenching and exhausting.But back in Pacoima, a little-known county crew working from a two-story warehouse under the flight path of Whiteman Airport was providing another vital service: supporting and keeping informed the U.S.families of those firefighters.Just like the search and rescue team in the disaster zone, the three-member Deployment Support Team in Pacoima was on duty 24 hours a day throughout the rescue mission.“We’re in the deployment just like everybody else,” team leader Greg Short said.

“So, when the team’s deployed, the DST is deployed, we’re all working together.”The twin quakes struck Venezuela on June 24 and by the evening of the next day, the Los Angeles County team of 73 crew members, six canine teams and 80,000 pounds of equipment were on their way to March Air Force Base in Riverside.They flew out early the next morning.

The crew took part in rescuing a 47-year-old man who was pulled out of the rubble eight days after the quakes hit, lifting the spirits and morale of rescuers who up until then were primarily uncovering human remains.The team is part of the International Search And Rescue Advisory Group, which is a global organization of more than 90 countries.In the facility in Pacoima, a conference room is set up both as a workspace for an around-the-clock mission and as a way to bridge the gap between families at home and the members of the department in the field.One member of the team, Rebekah Drews, the family support leader, handles requests for assistance from the families.In some cases, the r...